This chicken brine recipe is made with lemons, honey, fresh herbs and spices, and produces a juicy tender chicken every time! A foolproof way for succulent and flavorful roasted, smoked or fried chicken.
If you’ve never had a brined chicken before, you’re missing out! It takes just minutes to make a chicken brine, but the end result is nothing short of fabulous. Serve your chicken with glazed carrots and rice pilaf for a complete meal.
I always get anxious about cooking large items of poultry like whole chickens and turkeys. It’s just so easy to either overcook the birds until they’re dry as a bone, or undercook them so they’re raw in the middle. This chicken brine infuses a whole bird with tons of flavor and moisture and helps protect it from drying out in the oven! Brined chicken is the best chicken you’ll ever eat!
If you are looking for other meats to brine, take a look at my turkey brine recipe, pork chop brine and dry brined turkey!
Table of Contents
Chicken Brine Ingredients
To make this chicken brine recipe you’ll need water, kosher salt, honey, lemons, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme and parsley. You will also want a chicken to place in the brine!
How Do You Make Chicken Brine?
When you make this chicken brine recipe start by pouring water into a large pot. Add salt, honey, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, parsley and lemon slices to the water. Simmer everything for a few minutes until the salt dissolves. Cool the brine to room temperature. Add your chicken to the cooled liquid, cover it and refrigerate it. When you are ready to cook the chicken, remove the pot from the fridge, pat it dry and remove any herbs or peppercorns from the chicken. Cook and enjoy the chicken!
Tips For The Perfect Chicken Brine
- I pour additional cold water over the chicken to make sure there is enough to submerge the chicken.
- Be sure to use kosher salt, do not use table salt in this recipe. Table salt measures differently than kosher salt and your chicken will be too salty with table salt. I typically use Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
- This recipe tends to work well with smaller chickens in the 3-5 pound range.
- I soak my chickens in a pot. If your chicken is larger than the biggest pot in your house, you can use a brining bag.
- If you’re making a smoked chicken, you can use a half batch of my smoked turkey brine before you put the chicken in the smoker.
Quick Tip
Make sure the liquid is completely cooled before you add the chicken for food safety reasons. You can add ice cubes to help speed the process along.
Recipe FAQs
Chicken is a naturally lean type of meat which mean it’s prone to drying out. When a chicken is placed into brine, it absorbs some of the liquid which helps to both keep it moist and also to season it all the way through. When you’re working with a brined chicken, even if you overcook it a bit, it should still come out tender and juicy.
A whole chicken should be submerged in brine for at least 8 hours, or up to 24 hours. Do not go past the 24 hour mark, as your bird may be overly salty if it sits in the brine for too long. If you’re looking to cook bone-in chicken pieces such as chicken thighs, drumsticks or chicken breasts, you’ll want to soak them for about 4 hours. If you’re working with boneless chicken pieces, you can leave them in for about 2 hours.
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How Do You Cook Chicken?
You can cook this type of chicken in any way that you would normally cook a whole chicken. Check out some of my favorite recipes below. Sometimes I like to add a few teaspoons of chicken seasoning to the outside of the bird before I cook it.
- Roasted Chicken with Garlic and Herbs
- Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
- Peruvian Chicken
- Rotisserie Chicken
- Fried Chicken
Flavor Variations
This recipe adds amazing flavor and moisture to any chicken; however, you can change the recipe to suit your own taste.
- Citrus: You can try orange or grapefruit slices instead of lemon slices or make your own citrus combination.
- Sugar: Brown sugar works well with this brine. Just make sure to dissolve it in the water.
- Spicy: Feel free to add dried chiles for a little spice.
- Flavors: You can add fresh sage, paprika or quartered onions to your brine.
Once you try a brined chicken, you’ll be hooked! Everyone will think you’re a gourmet chef when they get a taste of your perfectly cooked chicken. While making a this brining solution is an extra step in the cooking process, it’s totally worth it in my opinion.
More Great Chicken Recipes
Baked Chicken Wings
55 mins
Chicken Madeira
55 mins
Smoked Chicken Thighs
3 hrs 10 mins
Grilled Chicken Breast
1 hr 30 mins
Chicken Brine Video
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Chicken Brine Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- 1/2 cup kosher salt do not use table salt
- 1/4 cup honey
- 3 dried bay leaves
- 5 cloves of garlic smashed and peeled
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 sprigs fresh parsley
- 2 lemons sliced
- 4 lb whole chicken
Instructions
- Place the water, salt, honey, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, parsley and lemons in a large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes or until salt has dissolved.
- Turn off the heat and cool completely.
- Add the chicken to the cooled brine. Make sure the chicken is completely submerged.
- Cover the pot and refrigerate for 8-24 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the brine and pat it dry with paper towels. Remove any herbs or peppercorns. Proceed with roasting, smoking or frying the chicken.
Notes
- Nutritional information includes the whole chicken.
- Make sure the liquid is completely cooled before you add the chicken for food safety reasons. You can add ice cubes to help speed the process along.
- I pour additional cool water over the chicken to make sure there is enough to submerge the chicken.
- I brine my chickens in a pot. If your chicken is larger than the biggest pot in your house, you can use a brining bag.
This recipe should be given to everyone the day move out! It’s a basic skill to make a flavorful chicken and yet I never learned that it must be brined! Well better late in life than never. Thank you!
I have brined whole chicken, chicken breasts and a turkey breast with this recipe. I keep returning to it because it produces the juiciest, most flavorful meat I’ve ever cooked! I love the lemon flavor it infuses into the meat. I don’t always add the extra herbs out calls for if not available but it is always delicious! Thanks for this awesome recipe!
If I can’t get whole lemons, how much Real Lemon juice should I use?
2 tablespoons.
This was fabulous!